Road trip continues at Kansas City

South Dakota State plays its second game in a season-long five game road trip on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., against former Summit League foe Kansas City, now a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Jackrabbits and Kangaroos tip from historic Municipal Auditorium at 7:05 p.m., in a game that can be seen live on KSMO-TV in the Kansas City television market, or streaming live online on ESPN3.

The Jackrabbits enter the game with an even 7-7 record after picking up their first road win of the season last Saturday at North Dakota, with a 77-70 win. Brayden Carlson scored a season-high 22 points and Cody Larson added 21, as the Jacks traded runs with UND throughout the game.

SDSU led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but UND put together a 12-1 run late in the half to tie the game at 32 at halftime. North Dakota took the lead early in the second half, but SDSU regained the lead, and used an 11-0 run to get a 59-58 lead back to 12 points and secure the win.

Pierre, S.D., native, and 2012 South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year, Tyler Merriam returns for his third season as the voice of Jackrabbit men’s basketball. He also serves as the voice of Jackrabbit football and baseball.

THE JACKRABBIT INSIDER ON KELOLAND-TV – Fans of South Dakota State Athletics can get a weekly behind-the-scenes look at all 21 Jackrabbit varsity sports teams by tuning into “The Jackrabbit Insider.”

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the show airs on Sundays on MyUTV at 10:30 p.m., followed by a broadcast on Sunday at 11 p.m. on KELOLAND-TV.

JACKS DOUBLE UP – After posting a single double-double in each of his first two seasons, Jordan Dykstra posted double-doubles in a team-high nine games as a junior in 2012-13. He posted five double-doubles in 11 games this season pushing his all-time total to 16. Cody Larson posted his first career double-double vs. Southwest Minnesota State on Nov. 18, added a second vs. Howard on Nov. 25 and a third on Dec. 4 vs. Dakota State.

FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES – Five Jackrabbits scored at least 10 points in the Jacks win over Southwest Minnesota State on both Nov. 18, marking the first time that’s happened since Feb. 2, 2013, when five did so at Kansas City. Five players scored at least 10 points again on Dec. 14 in the Jacks 85-72 win over Belmont.

HEATING UP – The Jackrabbits shot a season-high 57.4 percent from the floor on 27 of 47 shooting in a win over Belmont on Dec. 14, only to top that mark by going 27 of 45, 60 percent in a win over Wayne State on Nov. 18. As a team, the Jacks shot above 50 percent from the floor two other times this season; 52.5 percent against Southwest Minnesota State on Nov. 18 and 56.4 percent against Dakota State on Dec. 4. SDSU won all four of those games.

ON THE RECORD

DYKSTRA CLIMBING ALL-TIME SCORING LIST – Senior Jordan Dykstra became the 43rd member of the SDSU 1,000-Point Club in the Jacks win over South Dakota on Jan. 31, and immediately started to climb the scoring charts. He entered the 2013-14 season ranked 23rd all-time at SDSU with 1,149 points, but already moved up to 14th all-time with 1,375 points in his career. He needs 24 more points to crack the top-10.

DYKSTRA CRACKS TOP-10 IN CAREER 3-POINTERS – Dykstra opened the season with 142 career 3-pointers, five shy of cracking the all-time top-10 at SDSU, which he did at Texas Tech on Nov. 21. He enters Saturday’s game with 165, good for a tie for sixth all-time at SDSU with former teammate Griffan Callahan.

WHITE HITS 1,000-POINT MILESTONE – Senior Chad White came up 53 points shy of becoming the 44th member of the SDSU 1,000-Point Club last year, but hit the mark at Texas Tech on Nov. 21. He continues his climb up the list, and enters tonight’s game ranked 33rd all-time with 1,078 points, but needs just 21 points to move up six spots on the list.

WHITE CLIMBS CAREER 3-POINT FG CHARTS – Chad White entered the 2013-14 season with 169 career 3-point field goals, good for fifth all-time at SDSU. He needs two more triples to move into fourth place all-time.

CARLSON EYES 1,000-POINT CLUB – Senior Brayden Carlson scored just 85 points as a freshman, but scored 254 as a sophomore and 317 as a junior, giving him 656 entering his senior season, he now needs 155 points to reach the 1,000 point milestone, or just over 9.1 points per game for the rest of the season.

GOOD FOR THREE! – Three of the top-10 three-point shooters in SDSU history, based on 3-point field goal percentage, currently play for the Jackrabbits. Jordan Dykstra leads the way with .458 percent, Chad White ranks fourth with a .417 mark from deep, while Brayden Carlson enters the game ranked seventh all-time with a .399 career mark from long range.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT

KANSAS CITY KANGAROOS (3-2, 2-3 HOME) – Picked to finish ninth out of nine teams in the WAC Preseason Coaches Poll and eighth out of nine teams in the WAC Preseason Media Poll under first year head coach Kareem Richardson, the Kangaroos opened the season with three straight losses before picking up their first win at UT-Martin.

Three more losses followed before beating Youngstown State at home on Dec. 7. The ‘Roos third win of the season cam at home against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 18.

THE SERIES vs. KANSAS CITY – The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series 10-5, with wins in eight of the last nine meetings, including a season sweep the last two years. UMKC beat SDSU at Frost Arena on Jan. 27, 2011 and the Jacks did not lose at home again until falling to Montana Nov. 14, a string of 30 games, which set a school and Summit League record for consecutive home wins.

THE LAST MEETING: Feb. 2, 2013, Frost Arena – Every Jackrabbit in uniform scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound, as South Dakota State rolled to a school and Summit League record 28th consecutive home win by an 88-57 score over Kansas City.

The Jackrabbits school and Summit League record 28th straight home win boosts their record to 18-6 overall and to 9-2 in The Summit League, while the Kangaroos fall to 6-18 overall and to 3-8 in league play.

SDSU opened the game on an 11-2 run and never looked back, building the lead to as many as 24 points in the first half before taking a 50-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Kangaroos cut the lead to as few as 16 points early in the second half, but the Jacks used a 12-2 run to get the back over 20 points, and pushed it to as many as 35 points late in the game before the horn sounded with the final 88-57, 31-point margin.

Nate Wolters led five Jackrabbits in double figures with 18 points, adding five rebounds and a game-high six assists. Jordan Dykstra finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, Zach Horstman scored a career-high 13 on a perfect 5-for-5 night from the floor, including a 3-for-3 night from distance. Chad White added 12 and Brayden Carlson 11 points in the win.

Estan Tyler led the visitors with 13 points. Trinity Hall added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to complete the game’s only double-double. Brad Reid also tied for game-high honors with 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points.

NEXT UP FOR THE JACKRABBITS – SDSU’s season-long five game road trip continues, and non-conference play comes to an end, with a game at Buffalo on Jan. 3, 2014, a return game from the 2011 ESPN BracketBuster game played at Frost Arena.